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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In Britain, a spirited effort to save churches


A man practices rock climbing in the Bristol Climbing Center, which is run inside the converted 15th-century St. Werburgh's Church.
 (Washington Post / The Spokesman-Review)
Kevin Sullivan The Washington Post

BRISTOL, England – In front of the altar at St. Paul’s Church, two young acrobats balanced upside down with their toes pointed heavenward. Unicycles leaned against 200-year-old pews and trapezes hung from 40-foot-high scaffolding alongside stained-glass images of Moses, David and Elijah.

“I love to see the church used like this,” said the Rev. David Self, the Church of England vicar, watching 20 teenagers training to be circus performers. “If we worship and celebrate a God who is creative, for me this is part of His work.”

St. Paul’s, a towering 18th-century landmark in this industrial city 100 miles west of London, is an emblem of a movement to save this nation’s majestic but increasingly empty churches by converting them to inventive new uses. Hundreds of historic houses of worship are being turned into apartments, offices, pubs, spas, shops and, in the case of St. Paul’s, a brand-new academy to teach circus and theater skills to underprivileged youths.

“These churches are part of the nation’s identity,” said Paul Lewis, a Church of England official. “Sometimes the economic reality is that churches have to be closed. At the end of the day, it’s better to have the buildings being used.”

The Church of England, founded by King Henry VIII in 1534, is the nation’s largest. But it has closed about 1,700 churches since 1970, as attendance has declined and centuries-old buildings have become too costly to maintain. Fewer than 7 percent of Britons attend church regularly, according to Christian Research, a private group. Church of England officials said that while the church has 24 million baptized members in England, only about 1 million of them are in the pews on a typical Sunday.

Many of the buildings being converted are cavernous structures built in the 18th and 19th centuries, with imposing spires rising proudly in crowded city centers.

Lewis said the Church of England still operates more than 16,000 churches, and about 500 new ones have been built in the past 35 years, many in new suburban population centers. But, he said, the church continues to shut about 30 buildings a year.

“There is a great sadness surrounding the closure of these historic buildings,” said Steve Bruce, a professor of sociology at the University of Aberdeen. “But they have to be shut down and sold off. There is absolutely no reason to suppose that there is going to be a great turnaround in church attendance.”

Some of the closed churches have been bought by other religious groups – immigrants sometimes turn them into houses of worship for their faiths. Others have been turned into private businesses. At least three have been turned into rock climbing centers – taking advantage of high ceilings and huge, open interiors. “This is a living, breathing building that’s still open to the public, and I think that’s what churches are for,” said Julian Walker, who runs the Bristol Climbing Center, a converted 15th-century church formerly known as St. Werburgh’s.

In other cases, entrepreneurial spirit has moved in right alongside the Holy Spirit as churches dedicate some of their space to money-making ventures. The Holy Innocents Church in Manchester sold off its adjacent school, which is now the Queen of Hearts, a busy pub catering to college students.

The 500-year-old St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate church in London, where the remains of Capt. John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, are buried, is renovating its former vicar’s residence into a luxury apartment. Officials hope to cash in on London’s dizzying real estate prices to help maintain the church.

In Walsall, a central England town near Birmingham, one of the most successful prophets-and-profits redevelopment projects fills a downtown square next to the bus station. An 1892 chocolate-brown Victorian Gothic church, once known as St. Paul’s, has been re-launched as The Crossing at St. Paul’s – a thriving combination of shops and worship space.

In Bristol, the circus-training center opened in August following a yearlong, $6 million renovation paid for through proceeds from the National Lottery and from the Churches Conservation Trust, funded by the Church of England and the British government.

The restored church, which had been shuttered for more than a decade, was leased to Circomedia, a nonprofit group that offers circus training to young people. Many come from the area around the church, which has high rates of unemployment, drug use and crime.

“It not only gives what was a rundown area an uplift in terms of appearance, but it also offers opportunities for young people,” said Jon Rogers, a member of the Bristol City Council. “This is responding to what is needed in the community.”

Self, the vicar who oversees St. Paul’s and another church nearby, said St. Paul’s is still a consecrated church, and the lease calls for it to be made available for religious services at least six times a year.

“We haven’t abandoned this church,” Self said. “We’re just going to use it a little differently now.”